Lady Greene Devil tenacious attack dooms Lady Cyclones
Published 11:43 pm Thursday, October 21, 2021
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Elizabethton Lady Cyclones show off their Regional Runner-Up hardware after their regional final against Greeneville.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Lady Cyclone Hallie Powell battles a Greeneville player for possession of the ball.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton players Bella Morris (15) and Emma O'Quinn (14) try to steal the ball away from a Greeneville player.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders A host of Lady Cyclones surround a Greeneville player in an attempt to block her from making a pass near the goal.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Elizabethton's Chloe Kellerman steps in front of a Lady Greene Devil attacker to prevent her from getting to the soccer ball.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
GREENEVILLE – The Lady Cyclones of Elizabethton weren’t expected to reach the Region 1-A final in soccer, but against all odds Coach Bill McClay’s squad unexpectedly battled past Tennessee High in the district, won a long road trip to Claiborne in the region semifinals, and found themselves in a place they were all to familiar with at Tommy Bellamy Soccer Complex Thursday evening.
And unfortunately for the Lady Cyclones, they had the same outcome as in the last two meetings this season as Greeneville was in full attack mode from the opening whistle building a 7-0 halftime advantage and netting two more goals halfway through the second half to close out the match with a 9-nil victory.
With the win, the Lady Greene Devils will host Seymour Saturday for a home sectional contest while the Lady Cyclones take to the road in facing Knox Gibbs for their first sectional contest since 2014.
“They don’t hesitate and we talk a lot about it and it took a while to get into what we have been talking about and they just keep coming at you,” said McClay after the match. “We have the opportunities to make the one-touch dangerous pass and we don’t recognize it.
“I asked the girls how many touches did it take to make that pass on that one long diagonal ball and they said one. I said, there you go.”
McClay said a lot of the issue is the experience of the Lady Cyclones and if they had played this type of schedule all year “we would be pretty darn good and we play several good teams but they are not as good as Greeneville”.
“The fact we took it deep into the second half was good for us and I told them it was good practice for Saturday because we are going to play a good team on Saturday,” McClay said. “Everybody got in and we gained some good experience.”
The Lady Cyclone head coach was pleased as he walked off the field with the Regional Runner-up hardware as he said, “this means more than a district plaque because no one had gave us a chance of being here.”
The time for Saturday’s contest will be determined on Friday according to McClay.
